goodnight and go

I know I've posted about it before, but I love the video for Imogen Heap's 'Goodnight and Go' so very, very much.

I love the butterflies on her shoulders and arms, and everything going on in her hair, and the twinkle-lights, and the mix of prettiness and creepiness.

watch the full music video here

♥

my pocket protector is showing

I've been working my way through Star Trek: Voyager while doing homework... this moment just became my favorite part of any Star Trek episode ever.

I'm still giggling about it.

bird of the summer

Just the result of some late-night crafting on Friday....

Mini-bunting!

This is my desk!  I spend a lot of time here.  And now it's a little cuter.

I'm going to be adding mini-bunting to my etsy shop too-- look for it in a few days!  yay!

oh, and the title of this post is from this song, which I've been listening to a lot.

♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   The best thing I did all week was: getting the giggles in tailoring class because of something Andrea said.  Thank goodness it was toward the end of class because it was a severe case.

2.Cozy rainy days at 'Snice make me super happy.

my view for most of today

3.  Pets are adorable and sweet and funny.

I miss my lovely little cat.

4. My family and friends are the best thing about my life.

5.  With the cooler weather I am looking forward to all the things I talked about in this post-- but at the moment, I'm especially looking forward to crunchy, colorful leaves in the West Village and on the High Line.

6.  Something that's on my "wish list" right now is this wonderfully-adorably-fantastically-cute raincoat from Anthropologie.

I want it sooo badly.  But there is no way I'm spending almost three hundred dollars on a raincoat, so I'm praying wishing hoping that it goes on sale.

It has a butterfly print lining.  You guys know how I feel about butterfly prints.

7.  This weekend I am going to get lots of homework done, because I'm really liking this in-bed-by-midnight thing I've got going even during the week.  And I might go to Anthropologie just to try on the raincoat, so that if it doesn't work on me anyway I can stop obsessing over it.

Happy Friday lovelies!

♥

things I hate.

Ok, maybe hate is a bit strong.  But I mostly post about things I like (flowers, yarn, art, etc.), so here are some things I really really really don't like.

• squeaky chairs.  And I feel like I choose them inordinately often.


• crowds.


• onions


• that pokey part when you go too long without sharpening your eyeliner properly.


• when people can't discuss their religious or philosophical views at all without getting really defensive about it.  I asked, 'why do you believe _______', not 'why do you believe _______ because boy is it WRONG!'  Sheesh.  Conversely, it also bugs me when people think that their religion is the only one with any merit.


• the way the bubbles in soda make my nose tickle.

let's hope I can avoid all of these things in the next few days.

the end.

fall ♥

I really do.

A lot.

Here's what I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks/months!

♥ crunchy leaves

♥ woolly socks

♥ peppermint hot chocolate

♥ even more tea than usual

♥ wearing my winter coat

♥ cardigans

♥ scarves

♥ mittens

♥ the fall-air smell

♥ earmuffs

I just can't wait!

♥

dreamworld

I first found Twig Hutchinson's beautiful styling work when I was looking for the original source of a photo that I was including in a blog post.  Her entire portfolio is just as warm and lovely.

all photos from Twig's (adorable) portfolio site.
Can I live in her work?  Pretty please?

♥

lovely-perfect-wonderful day ♥

Yesterday was such a good day!  I don't have classes on Fridays, so I like getting lots of work done so I can have at least a bit of free time on the weekend.  I usually head over to 'Snice (on West 4th and 8th) in the morning.  Usually this guy is sun-lounging on the outside stand of a flower shop on the way over, like he was yesterday.  Which just completely makes my morning.

He's always up for some petting and paw-kneading.

When I get to 'Snice, my favorite table is the one in the front window.  It was taken when I first got there yesterday, but I strategically positioned myself to be able to see when it became available and then nabbed it.  (Yes, it is kind of an involved process.  What can I say, I really like that table.  It's sunny and if the door is propped open there's a nice breeze.)

my favorite 'Snice breakfast, oatmeal with dried fruit and mint tea

I read a good amount of the first two acts of A Midsummer Night's Dream for my (awesome) Shakespeare class, but I was getting warm and sleepy, so I went over to the High Line to finish reading and do the response questions.  It was such a good day for seat-getting, I was able to snag one of the wooden lounge chair things, which are usually full (and which were swarmed a few minutes after I got there-- yay for unplanned good timing!)

I was in the water-feature area, which is lovely because it softens the noise of the city, and little kids get all excited and run around in it.  The chair-ish thing that I was on was surrounded by greenery on three sides and it felt like a private little reading nook.

hope you had a wonderful Friday too!

♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   You should always take time to: sleep.  I know that sounds a bit crazy coming from a fashion design student, because we're notorious for not sleeping, but if I'm over-tired, I'm not going to be accomplishing anything anyway.  Not to a level that I'm happy with.  And I work much more efficiently when I'm well-rested, especially since I'm a morning person.

2. Tea and notebooks and fabric swatches make(s) the world a happier place to be.

3.  I can hardly wait for my mom to visit in a few weeks!  I haven't seen her since I came back to the city.

4.Friday is my favorite day of the week.  I don't have classes scheduled on Fridays this semester, and I like using it as a day to get lots of work done while I still have my school-week momentum going on.  I also like that most people are at work or school, so I can usually snag my favorite table at 'Snice and walk around the West Village without running into too many crowds. Today was a particularly awesome Friday-- more on that next post.

5.  Something totally dumb and ridiculous that I love is Fraggle Rock.  No, really, I love it.  If you've never watched at least a few episodes, it's on Netflix Instant and it's cute and funny and silly.

6.  If I could, I would paint my nails perfectly, when I do it I have to plan a shower right after it dries because I always get it on my cuticles.  (Obviously, there are a lot of things that I'd choose over the ability to paint my nails perfectly, but it's too upsetting that I can't actually do those things.  So I'm going with something frivolous on this one.)

7.  I rather like my Friday night routine-- homework, laundry, tea, netflix, and crocheting.  I know that must sound incredibly dull, but it's such a nice, relaxing end to the week.

♥

words and pictures

I am really, really sleepy tonight.  So let's go with some photos, shall we?

These are some of my preliminary thumbnail sketches for fall/winter collection for my portfolio class. Today we edited down from 40 sketches to 20, which will be the ones that are rendered (colored in such a way that pieces look like the fabric they'd be made from) and eventually go into my portfolio.  Then I'll be doing a spring collection of the same size, and a smaller pre-fall collection.  I'm really excited about the direction it's taking!

Also, I got some lovely mail today:

a postcard from Bryce!  She's in London for the fall semester, blogging over here.

Isn't she sweet?  I love the lipstick kiss.

♥

blogging: meta edition

So you guys, I just checked my spam queue, and a bunch of your lovely comments have been being automatically put into spam.  How lame is that?

Very lame.

So if I haven't responded to you, you were probably among the wrongly spammed.  Unless of course you were the commenter who said, 'preach it, my brother!' and 'properly mentioned & with glorious timing.'  Pretty sure that was really spam.

Anyway, I've been feeling like some freshening up needs to be done around this little corner of the internet.  I like my color scheme, but I didn't realize how different it looks on PCs, very washed out.  And I could use a change anyway.

Any suggestions?  Things you love or hate about my current blog design?  Or things you mildly like or dislike, we don't have to go to extremes.

♥

space cadet

I've been listening to these two songs nearly constantly for the past two days while I've been working on my portfolio... apparently space-themed songs work best for me?

What music do you play to help you feel inspired and creative?

♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   Somewhere someone is: trying to hold back a sneeze in an elevator to avoid grossing out everyone in an enclosed space.

2.  At the moment, Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy is/are my muse.

3.  It would suck if snow was no more because I love walking around the city when it's all snowy and quiet.

4.  Sunshine coming into my cozy room and having the whole afternoon and evening to design  is/are my favorite things about today.

5.  Life is kind of like a really big notebook-- you can flip back to see what you've already written, but if you try to look forward you can only see blank pages.  And there are bits you wish you could rip out, but if you did, the book would fall apart.

6.  If I could have anything I wanted I would want my dad to come back.

7.  A funny thing happened the other day... I was in Gristedes (a super market, to non-Manhattanites) and a little boy was clinging to a candy bar, which his dad said he couldn't get because he was too old for that.  The boy said, "Nuh-uh!  Nobody's too old for candy!  It's impossible I'm pretty sure!"  You tell 'em, kiddo.

♥

truly lovely ♥

Remember how I was planning to go to the Chelsea Market Anthropologie to see A Fine Frenzy play for Fashion's Night Out?

Well.... I did!  It was such an awesome experience.  Alison Sudol is incredibly talented and cute as a button.  She exudes so much joy and enthusiasm.  I saw her second show of the evening, bu she still had so much energy and seemed genuinely happy and excited to be performing and to see everyone who came out to hear her.  She sounds amazing like, too, she's this slim, ethereal girl and then she starts singing, and it's so powerful that you kinda go, 'whoa, where does she even fit that much voice?'

I actually felt myself getting a little emotional a few times.  Music is strange in that way, that the sound of resonating vibrations can make you feel so much.  Maybe it's like with glass or crystal-- when the frequency of the music matches your own private frequency, it resonates deeper and deeper until you shatter.  And I'm sure some of that emotion came from meeting (yes, meeting!  I got to meet her!) someone that I often imagine when I'm designing, because she's so full of life and joy and curiosity and empathy and sweetness, everything I try to convey in my designs and illustrations.  It was truly like getting to meet a muse.  And she was so gracious and sweet while she was chatting and taking photos with fans after her set.

It was just such a special experience, and I'm so grateful to have been there.

I can't even express how excited I am.

Because one of my favorite musicians is going to be at my favorite location of my favorite store tomorrow night.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/user/AFineFrenzy#p/a/f/2/x7N5L1yCFUc]



A Fine Frenzy at the Chelsea Market Anthropologie!  Yaaaaaay!

♥

saturday adventures

So, was everyone else aware that there's a Kinokuniya store in Manhattan?  I sure wasn't.  Probably because it's in midtown, which I generally try my best to avoid.  But in my fruitless attempts to get a book for school at the 5th Ave. Barnes and Noble, I ran into my own little craft-supply nirvana.  I've been sliiiiightly obsessed with washi tape recently, and Kinokuniya has an amazing selection.

mmm, cell phone picture quality.  forgot my camera at home.

Just ridiculously cute.  The ones I bought are currently just hanging around on my desk next to my notebooks.  Looking over at them makes me so excited to create cute, happy things.  And that whole shop made me think of this song by The Bird and the Bee.

So, yes, Kinokuniya, on 6th Ave. between 40th and 41st, definitely check it out for a dose of sugary-sweet cuteness and awesome stationery.

Oh, and this was on a door I passed on my way home.

...Shouldn't this be unnecessary?

How are you all spending the long weekend (if you're in the U.S., otherwise, how are you spending your regular-length weekend)?

♥

just for giggles

I just can't get enough of this photo.  It makes me laugh hysterically every time I look at it.

via Marissa

fill-in-the-blank saturday

via the little things we do

1.   One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is: my Dinkie Dino virtual pets.  I only get the urge to fire them up every few years, but they're by far the cutest ones put out during that craze.

2.  When there's a big crowd to get into the elevator as I'm trying to come out and I have to try to battle my way through them it makes me feel awkward.

3.  I can't pass an Anthropologie without at least stopping to see the window displays.

4.  Tea and rice cakes with hummus  is my favorite snack.

5.  Lately I've been listening to Pandora a lot.  My favorite stations are based around The Pipettes, A Fine Frenzy, and Yann Tiersen.

6.  If at first you don't succeed walk away from it for a little while, don't keep trying the same thing while getting more and more upset.  Sometimes a change of scene makes something click and everything makes sense.

7.  Fall is my favorite season to get dressed during.  Tights and wooly socks and boots and cardigans and airy scarves, I am so ready for you.

♥

friday, friday (we so excited)

Today was one of those day that I just want to be able to rewind and live over and over indefinitely, it was that good.  I spent my morning at S'nice, drinking mint tea and doing homework for my art history class.  The first two songs that came on when I was there were 'My Girl' and 'Brown-Eyed Girl,' songs which I used to pester my dad to play whenever he had his guitar out.  I've been feeling more hurt and confused about losing him in the last week or so, and hearing those songs felt like a...reassurance.  Just sitting in a café with tea and a textbook was the most peaceful I've felt since coming back to New York.

While I was there, I discovered the GPS app on my phone.  I know I'm pretty much the last person on earth to discover this phenomenon, but it is waaaay cool.  One of the main reasons I switched from my Razr (mmhm, remember those?  Current circa 2004?) to a BlackBerry is because I have an abominable sense of direction, which I've only recently acknowledged.  I never used to look up directions to places because I'd think, "Naaaah, I know where that is!"  And then my mom would get the inevitable call asking her to look up directions while I was wandering around getting progressively more frustrated and baffled.  So anyway, one of the reasons I got my BB was so I could look up my own directions.  Long story short, I navigated my way over to Kate's Paperie and gave myself a present for doing well my first week of school.  (Actually, I'm not sure it's possible not to do well the first week, you basically just have to show up.  But whatever, not the point.)

They're two of these gorgeous recycled leather notebooks.  I love them so much.  I keep moving them around my room so I can see how they look on my desk, on my bed, on my big blue chair as though I ever-so-casually left them there after writing something witty and charming, etc.  Mine are the unlined ones, and the paper is thick and ivory and lovvvvvely.  Is there anything more inspiring than a blank notebook?  There's so much potential.

happy friday, lovelies!

♥

museum of natural history pt. 4

Hi lovelies!  Last part of the photos from my Museum of Natural History trip last week: finished gems.

This was one of my favorite parts of the museum.  Not just because I'm a girl and thus have a bit of an 'ooooh, sparkly!' magpie-style reaction to shiny things, either.  In a time where everything is digitally enhanced, it was way cool to be reminded that there are such pure, saturated, clear colors that occur naturally.

Also, I had a really good first week of school!  I can't believe I'm a senior in college...eek!  My mom sent me a really sweet first-day-of-school email on Tuesday, and all my classes have been interesting and fun.  Instead of getting overwhelmed by the huge variety of things that I need to learn and do for my classes, I'm going to try to think of it as pursuing a bunch of interests.  I'm kind of realizing that this is the last time in my life where all I need to do is show up, learn, and create, and I want to take full advantage of that.  How was your first week, lovelies?

bonne nuit, mes amis belle!

♥